Truthful Revisions
by Aria Rayn
Summary: Teal'c discovers Tau'ri literature in the form of poetry, and some depressing results are involved. Daniel steps in. Teal'c & Daniel friendship. I know I need to update my other fics, I'm trying, I really am. I wanted to finish this before the muse ran aw


(Set in late first season.)

_When Daniel introduces Teal'c to the world of Tau'ri literature, what will he come across? (All poems translated from Gou'ald to English as Daniel reads them.)_

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Truthful Revisions

Daniel knocked on Teal'c's door lightly and waited for the Jaffa to answer. He'd found the additional poetry books that Teal'c had requested – who knew the big Jaffa would warm to poetry, of all the things in earth's culture?

When Teal'c didn't answer, Daniel frowned. _I'll just go in and leave them for him to find,_ Daniel thought. _In and out – like a military operation or something._

So he opened the door and walked in, closing the door behind him softly. The room was well-lit, with both the electric lights and candles burning. However, Teal'c was nowhere to be found.

Daniel walked over to the desk and settled his stack onto it. He was about to turn and leave when he spied a single sheet of lined paper resting to the left of his pile. Curiously, Daniel picked it up, and, pushing his glasses further onto his nose, read it:

_Black Soul_

_The odor of rotting corpses_

_suffocates –_

_filling my throat and nostrils._

_The screams and pleas of victims –_

_human and Jaffa – _

_deafen me._

_The sight of tears and fear_

_blind me to the life and death_

_that surround me._

_They are crippling me,_

_I, their torturer, and killer._

_All for the sake of a false god._

_I curse myself and the god_

_for whom so many were slain._

_There is no redemption great enough_

_to free my captive soul._

_When gods are false and life is dead,_

_there is no one left to take revenge_

_for the wrongs that I have caused._

Daniel's eyes widened. _Oh boy…_

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It took a while before he found Teal'c in the gym. (_I still can't believe they have room for a gym _under a mountain Daniel thought.)

Daniel, glad that they were alone, said, "Teal'c?"

Teal'c ceased his attack on the punching bag. "Daniel Jackson," he greeted lightly, in a way that Daniel had come to recognize as fond and brotherly.

The expression on Teal'c's face turned quizzical when Daniel handed him two large, light brown envelopes.

"These are for you."

Teal'c tilted his head and quirked an eyebrow. "May I inquire as to what is inside?" he asked.

Daniel smiled. "Eh…no. Just read, okay? Read it all until there's nothing left in them to read. Do it tonight, in your quarters, just before you Kel'no'reem."

Teal'c was obviously puzzled by his friend and comrade's request. He seemed to be about to decline Daniel's request when Daniel jumped in hastily, saying, "Please, Teal'c. I'd consider it a personal favor, one you can get me to repay any time."

Although still uncertain, Teal'c agreed.

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Teal'c gently closed the door, the soft, welcoming candlelight luring him in. He'd been waiting for this relaxation all evening. He was about to settle down for deep kel'no'reem when he remembered his promise to Daniel Jackson. He opened the first envelope. His face showed mild surprise that quickly turned bitter when he discovered that it was his poor attempt at the Tau'ri art of poetry.

Casting the sheet aside, he opened the second envelope. Still irritable about the stolen poem he'd written, Teal'c began to read the sheet from the second envelope with distaste that slowly turned to deep pondering.

_New Beginning_

_Forced into slavery for_

_thousands of years –_

_the Jaffa._

_Jaffa after Jaffa,_

_slaughtering their brothers._

_Willing to die for false gods._

_Condemned._

_One alone_

_walked away._

_Left his home and family_

_with no promise of reward;_

_one fights with strangers_

_side by side,_

_day by day,_

_as brothers do._

_Little by little,_

_strangers become friends._

_Trusting._

_The lone Jaffa_

_has no promise of reward_

_to replace his losses,_

_but for the promise_

_of a new beginning._

After a moment, Teal'c reread it once. Twice. And thrice.

And Teal'c smiled in that quiet, undisruptive way of his. Smiled.

And he said aloud to the whispery smoke from the candles, "Daniel Jackson speaks what is true and correct. My black soul is growing lighter with each passing moment that I spend fighting the false gods with SG-1. My…comrades. My friends."

Teal'c hid away "Black Soul", unwilling to destroy his first piece, but unwilling to take notice of it. Instead, he tacked to the wall, "New Beginning", and read it every morning to remind himself that his soul wasn't black.


End file.
